color and texture

[gosling]

I said to Chip this morning, "Fredrick is the little mouse who collects color and stories and sustains everyone throughout the cold, dark Winter. Let's name him Frederick." And started to cry.

I think more than anything this is what I want for my son. I was looking at the kids in my class today, and thinking about how, for so many of the boys, their families are taking color and texture away from them little by little without even noticing. At four, the girls all had soft, bright clothes, but many of the boys no longer did. And looking at their nap bedding I saw something similiar.

I want all the color and texture in the world for my son.

Suddenly it feels more important to get around to painting some of the white walls in our new house bright colors.

Comments

[quietann.livejournal.com]

so it must be a boy :)

Color is important. I visualize a lot of bright, primary colors for the little guy. Maybe even one of those toddler beds that looks like a car (or a train!)...

You realize that I've started about 4 different projects for your kid, and can't decide which one to finish and give to you? Given this post, maybe it will be the rainbow-stripe afghan :)

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

Do you have evidence, or a feeling, that it's a boy?

[ceo]

Well, he was grabbing his little willie on the ultrasound yesterday. The other hand was in the hand-staple-forehead gesture.

I'm not going to think too hard about what that might forebode. :-)

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

wow, a future sexy goth boy!

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

Ha ha! That's great!

Hey, there's not much to do in there. He might as well keep himself amused.

So definite boy, eh? That will make clothes-buying simpler. I know, I know, not to be gender-rigid, but at least you know you probably won't be needing dresses.

[bethr.livejournal.com]

That's so sweet. And thought-provoking.

As far as removing color and texture from boys---gosh, I never thought of it. I hope that the twins aren't the ones you're thinking of in particular: I buy their clothes from eBay in big 2nd-hand lots, but then they can pick out their own clothes every morning, and generally they pick out the brightest stuff they can find.

Then again, their father thinks that wearing an orange sweater is a perfectly reasonable thing for an adult male to do, and all our large upholstery is bright purple. So that helps.

[dolphin127.livejournal.com]

Ditto for me on the though-provoking comment. We were so diligent to ensure Ilana didn't just have frilly girly things, but sporty things, too. I handn't yet thought about boys. Interesting...

[gosling.livejournal.com]

Your kids have some of the only bright colors on boys in the class. (That was the day of the purple planet shirt, which is just a wonderful shirt.) This was certainly not particularly in reference to them.

But when I actually started looking and counting, the contrast was really dramatic. (Today, for example, there were two boys in bright colored shirts, and two girls not wearing exclusively bright colors.)

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

When your child is welcomed in to this world, we will be there with all the colors and textures and sounds and tastes that this world has to offer. And if they don't exist in stores, then we will make them! And I think that Frederick is a wonderful name to give him if its a boy. (Do you actually know?) Let me know if you want help painting the place. I can even do a little bit if scenic painting work and murals.

[gingicat]

How odd that the boys at your school don't wear bright colors... it seems that there's so much bright primary-color clothing out there for little boys.

It is true that the high-school-age boys at the Academy tend to wear drab colors. Perhaps I'll start teasing them about that. :)

[gosling.livejournal.com]

There is bright colored stuff that fits kids up to about age three (maybe four if the kid is on the small side.) After that it all seems to devolve to inspid pink things and clothing that looks like it has been dragged through the mud. (Parents have commented to me on the difficulty of getting even red socks.)

[coyotegirl.livejournal.com]

that's beautiful. and it's a great name, too.

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

I was just looking at the International Male catalog yesterday, and thinking how I wished more straight men would dress up in fun, colorful, interesting clothing. Maybe by the time he's grown up men can be colorful peacocks again.

[fangirl715.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! And yes, Frederick sounds like a pretty good name to me--in addition to the little mouse (which I hadn't actually heard of), "Frederick" is also the title of a really wonderful Patti Smith song from the Easter album. (She wrote it for the man she eventually married, Fred "Sonic" Smith, during their courtship, FWIW--I believe he started out teaching her clarinet, and things just progressed from there. ;-) I'd play it for you, but I only have it on vinyl, and no working turntable in the house...perhaps when you get moved in and settled?

(I'm just remembering how kickass the first 3 songs on side 1 of that album are--"Frederick", "Dancing Barefoot", and her cover of "So You Want to Be a Rock & Roll Star", IMNSHO the all-time best version ever of that song. Time to acquire a new turntable, or else get the album on CD...)

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Gosh. I like you.

(Also, she says, unrelated to what, specifically, made me sit up and appreciate you, both my brother and my dad are named Frederick. 's a /good/ name.)

it's a boy! :)

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

He will look totally adorable in the tie-dyed onesies, and he will never lack for color, at least until such time as he decides that he only looks cool in all black clothing, but at least he can wear all black clothing with texture! ;-)